Martin Lewis said on the MoneySavingExpert website: “Mortgage prisoners are the forgotten victims of the 2008 financial crash.
“The government at the time chose to bail out the banks, but unfairly – immorally – hundreds of thousands of their victims were left without adequate help, trapped in their mortgages and the financial misery caused by it. And they have been forgotten ever since.
“The Prime Minister has touted the idea of subsidising 5% deposit mortgages for first-time buyers.
“Alongside that, there is a moral responsibility to release money to free mortgage prisoners from their penury.
“I was delighted when Treasury Minister John Glen agreed in advance to review any policy proposals the LSE came up with.
“The independent, practical solutions in this report leave no excuse for not tackling this, though as an urgent first step, the government must agree to do the remedial work, using critical data it has access to, to cost the solutions up fully.
“Speed is necessary now, as coronavirus has torn through people’s livelihoods.
“But for people whose finances and freedom have already been destroyed for more than a decade, they had already met breaking point – they are now defeated.
“Nobody should underestimate the detriment to people’s lives and wellbeing if the Treasury doesn’t act, and act soon. Intervention can and will save lives.”